


Lost And Found

by MidnightMorpher



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Pokemon
Genre: Adopted, Brothers, Death, Deino, Demigods, Fanfic, Fanfiction, Investigation, Multi, Pokemon - Freeform, Sisters, ghost - Freeform, i hope I’m not doing tags wrong, mystics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2018-12-09 08:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11665230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMorpher/pseuds/MidnightMorpher
Summary: Scores of demigods have been slaughtered by a boy that should have died centuries ago, and as a result, the remaining demigods are forced out of society by the humans. But when Midnight and Melody try to investigate, tragedy strikes, leaving one broken and the other dead. Recovery is already hard enough without having to track down the killer. She is about to find out the hard way.





	1. Chapter 1: The New Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the sister are informed of their new task.

Chapter 1: New Task  
[August 10, 2016]

Midnight woke up with a start.

It took a few moments for her racing heart to slow down. Taking in rattling breaths, she rolled over to her side, and the sights of her sister sleeping next to her managed to soothe her somewhat. She clasped her sister's soft hand, snuggling up to her.

Now that she had calmed down sufficiently, her eyes became unfocused as her mind flew back to the dream. The dream that she had... It wasn't new, she had been having the same dream for a few months already, but it was becoming more and more frequent. It always ended the same way: the boy's life ending as he clung onto the hope of someone coming to save him. And on his birthday, no less. Each time the Hydreigon's jaws connected with his head, the sensation of his frontal lobe being torn away becoming more vivid.

Of course, she would know, since it had happened to her before.

The scene of his blood staining the ground flashed before her eyes, and her stomach churned dangerously. In a blink of the eye, Midnight was on her feet and running to the bathroom. She stuck her head over the toilet and began to heave.

"Midnight?"

A small hand pressed itself against her back, helping Midnight ease herself back up once the contents of her stomach left her body. "Do you still feel like vomiting?" her sister asked, rubbing her back.

"N-no, I... I'm fine," she coughed, trying her best to ignore how the action of comfort resembled Azame's to his brother. Telling him that everything would be alright. 

"Are you sure?" Twin hands held her head, forcing Midnight to make eye contact with her sister. Her eyes raked across her face, as if trying to find the source of her discomfort. "You're still very pale." She wiped her forehead, which Midnight didn't realize until now was covered in sweat.

"Yeah." Her eyes narrowed knowingly. "Yeah, I'm fine," she repeatedly firmly. Jerking her head out of her grip, Midnight bent over the sink and began washing out her mouth.

"Was it that dream again?" Melody asked in a shrewd sort of voice.

Midnight didn't immediately reply. She kept rinsing get her mouth until the rancid taste was gone, then she rinsed a few more times just to avoid talking to her.

"Well?" she said impatiently.

Eventually, she straightened to meet Melody's worried eyes when she couldn't pretend that she was still washing out her mouth. "Well... Yeah, it was," she admitted.

Melody sighed. "Midnight..."

For some reason, her tone rubbed Midnight the wrong way. "Don't!" she snapped. "I'm fine, how many times must I say?"

"You threw up in the toilet," Melody deadpanned. "That's not what I would call 'fine'."

Midnight huffed again, annoyed at the mixture of warmth and irritation that her sister's words brought. She was immensely happy that Melody was this concerned about her, but she wasn't a child anymore , goddamnit! "Well, now I'm fine. In fact, I need some time alone, if you don't mind." As she spoke, she tried to discreetly step around her to leave the bathroom and, hopefully, any more awkward questions.

No such luck. Melody sidestepped her, crossing her arms across her chest. "Actually, I do mind. I mind that my sister is having night terrors almost all the time. I mind that my sister is refusing any sort of help from Psychics or psychiatrists." She then took hold of her ear firmly, electing an involuntary squeak from Midnight. "I mind that my sister is putting her health at risk unnecessarily."

"My health is completely fine," she huffed. "Do you think that I'm going to let a stupid dream hurt me?"

Melody let go of her ear and took a step back, surveying her like a disappointed parent. "I don't think you're 'letting' anyone hurt you," she said lowly. "But this isn't a normal reaction to a nightmare. It's making you ill, and we don't know why."

"Um... Oh, look at the time! I need to take a shower, so I'll talk to you later, okay?" She shoved Melody out of the toilet none too gently, and she locked the door behind her.

She sighed. 'Alone at last...'  
__________________________________________  
Melody was left standing there, silently trying to process the events that had transpired, before realizing what Midnight had did. 

"Midnight Willows, I'm not done with you!" she howled, pounding on the door. "Get out here!"

"Later!" came the muffled response.

Melody frowned. She knew that her sister didn't like to put her problems oh her, but this was getting ridiculous! It had been a few months since it first happened, and the most she could get out of Midnight was that it involved some poor sap getting his brain torn out. If only she knew what was the cause...

Oh, if only she wasn't so against having her mind checked over! It hurt her immensely to see Midnight flinch at the mere mention of a psychic, especially after what she went through at the hands of Team Rocket, but she couldn't think of any other way to help her.

Well, she is having a nightmare, perhaps a Lunar Wing...

No no no, that wouldn't work. Lunar Wings were about as common as its creator, and she wasn't talking about cheap knock-offs at festivals.

So that was out of the question, and now it looked like having a psychic over was the only option. Of course she wasn't happy about this, and she had no doubt that Midnight would make her displeasure loud and clear, but what else could they do?

'Maybe I could soften her up with Pecha cake,' she thought glumly, making her way to their bed. 'Or maybe I could soften her up with some coconut pie...'

Just as she took hold of the soaked sheet, however, the doorbell rang.

~Ding-dong~

'Who could be up at this time of the day?' Melody wondered. It wasn't like they were early risers, but they hardly got any visitors at where they stayed, the only ones being Charles and, occasionally, Captain Grigory. 

Although, to be fair, they didn't have any close friends- No, scratch that. They didn't have any friends at all, except for Charles. Captain Grigory and them had more of an employer-and-employee kind of relationship.

When she reached the door, a familiar voice called out. "Melody? Midnight? Are you guys awake?"

Despite her worries, she couldn't stop the grin spreading across her face. She undid the lock and threw the door open, revealing an athletic-looking man with unruly sandy-blonde hair and dull blue eyes. "Charles! What brings you here?"

"Heyo!" he greeted, striding into the room. "Captain G sent me up here to check up on you two. Well, more on Midnight than you, really. Something about not wanting to leave her alone for too long..."

Melody stifled a laugh. "Well, you can tell him not to worry, we're fine. Actually," she added in an afterthought, "could you tell him later? I need you to help me take off the sheets, they're all wet."

"Wet?" he said. "Did you wet yourselves?"

"What? No!" she yelled, her cheeks growing warm. "Charles, we're sixteen!"

"I know, I know!" he said. "I just know some people who have the same problem, so I thought-"

"Neither of us wet ourselves," she said forcefully. "Just... Just help me, would you?"

They went to her bedroom and stripped the bed together. As Melody searched for spare bedsheets, Charles was examining the old ones with mild interest. "So what happened, anyway?"

Melody's eyebrows knotted together. Telling Charles about her sister's recurring nightmare would not have been too much of an issue if not for him reporting every single detail to his boss. Charles wouldn't think of Midnight differently, Melody was sure, but the captain would most probably have her carted to a mental hospital. After all, he couldn't have a mentally unstable shapeshifter running amok in the base, could he?

But she couldn't find the heart to lie to him either. Looks like it's time for plan B. "Midnight...had a nightmare," she said carefully. "But she's feeling fine now. She just went to wash up a little."

"Ah, alright then," he said. "Don't you worry, I'll make a breakfast so spectacular that she'll forget all about her scary dream!"

"That's... Thank you, Charles." She was inwardly relieved that Charles had not pursued the subject. Hopefully, Captain Grigory would display the same level of indifference.

Once the bed was freshly made, Charles gathered the dirty sheets in his arms. "I'll take this down to the laundromat place with my own laundry to get it washed later," he offered.

"Thanks. And get me the papers for today!" she said to his retreating back. There was a muffled affirmative, and she heard the door close.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and Melody flopped bonelessly onto the bed.

She closed her eyes. No, it wasn't exhaustion... She just felt drained. Between Midnight's nightmares and Captain Grigory's scrutiny, it was all she could do not to jump back in time to enjoy the calm before the storm.

'I hope Midnight tells me what's troubling her soon,' she thought. She really wanted to trust her sister, but it was just so hard to read her sometimes.

Suddenly, a pair of bony hands gripped her shoulders, and she felt a warm body snuggle up to her from behind. "Hey, Melly," she said, sounding much better than before.

"Hey yourself . How are you feeling?" she asked, turning over.

"Alright, I guess."

"That's good to hear." Even without her answer, it was quite hard for her to miss the usual glint of mischief in her eyes, or the way she was stretched out across the bed reminiscent to a Liepard basking in the morning light. It was a definite improvement form her shaking shoulders and pale complexion.

"Thanks! So what's for breakfast?" she asked, rolling off the bed and giving herself a few good stretches.

"Charles wanted to make us some."

"Oh, did he?" she asked lazily.

"Yes. But hey, at least Charles is making us breakfast." At that moment, both of them heard the front door open. "Now, I wanted to talk to you about your dreams..."

Midnight wasn't listening to her. Jumping from the bed, she bolted to the living room with an enthusiastic "Charles!". Melody followed her out at a more reasonable pace.

Charles was standing there with a roll of paper and a cup of tea in his hands. "Good morning, Midnight," he chuckled, handing her the cup and patting her head. They all went to the kitchen, Midnight trailing behind like a lost Lillipup.

"Um, sorry, but there's been a change of plans, girls," Charles started, shooting Midnight a wary look. "Captain G wants to meet you in about an hour, so I can only make you something simple. I promise, I'll make it up to you sometime."

"It's fine, Charles," Melody said. "You're already helping us, it's more than enough."

Midnight nodded in agreement.

Charles visibly relaxed at this. "Thanks. So what do you girls want?"

"Hm..." Melody ran through a mental list of their larder. Two eggs, a half-filled carton of milk, an apple that had a bite taken out of it ('Really, Mid?'), and a loaf of bread. 'I'll have to go shopping soon,' she mused.

Aloud, she said, "I think some toast would do."

"Gotcha!" As Charles busied himself with the toaster, Melody took the discarded papers and began perusing it while Midnight sipped her tea.

Many of the articles were uninteresting, mainly revolving around celebrities and politics. Diantha had been spotted at a café in Lumiose City, poachers have been terrorizing wild Pokémon as of late, Pokémon rangers have put forth an appeal for the public to provide them with any information regarding said poachers.

As she continued flipping, she felt a head rest on her shoulder and a sigh against her ear.

"'M tired," Midnight moaned dramatically, snuggling into her neck. "Wanna go back to sleep."

"You just woke up!" Melody said exasperatedly.

"Don't care."

She sighed. "Midnight, I-" But just then, a certain article jumped to her attention, and she let out an involuntary gasp. "Oh!"

"What?" There was a "thud", followed by Midnight cursing. "Fuck! I spilled me drink..."

Melody wasn't paying much attention, however, even as her sister rushed to the counter for a rag. Her eyes were fixed on the article, her dread mounting higher and higher as they roamed down.

The headlines read "Circus World Performers Still Missing".

"Melly, what happened? You made me spill my drink," Midnight grumbled, throwing aside the sodden cleaning rag as she slid into a seat next to her. "This had better be good."

"Aw, don't worry, I'll get you another," Charles said, setting a plate full of toast in front of them. "Look, it's full of butter!"

"Wh- Charles!" She was momentarily distracted from her papers as she peered at the stack of toasts. "Did you use up all of our bread?" The abashed look on his face confirmed her suspicions. "Charles!!"

'Ugh, now I really have to go shopping.'

"W-well... I just wanted to get Midnight to forget about her nightmares!" he said defensively. It achieved the desired effect; now Midnight was glaring at her.

"You told him?!" she hissed. "Melody, how could you?"

"No, I-" This was getting out of hand, she had to bring everyone back to task. "Look, all of this is-isn't important, alright? Take a look at this."

Midnight still had a scowl on her face, but her curiosity had won over. Both of them scooted closer to her, Midnight still muttering mutinously, and read the indicated news article.

"Circus World Performers Still Missing"

"Police suspect fellow employee to be responsible"

"Circus World?" Charles said. "Isn't that the place I used to bring you to?"

"The very same."

Midnight nodded in agreement, her mouth full of toast.

"The police have conducted multiple searches locate the first performer to go missing, Benjamin Bancroft, age 30, who was first reported missing on June 23 by a fellow performer, Belle Bancroft (stage name Ballora). He was last seen entering the lower levels of Circus World, presumably led down there by another employee. However, no results have been yielded.  
"We're trying our best, alright?" an agitated officer said. "There's no prints, no tracks, no anything. It's like Bancroft just up and vanished."  
Just yesterday, Circus World has suffered yet another tragedy. The performer, Ballora, has been reported missing by an employee who has chosen not to comment.  
Her fans and family members hope for a speedy end to the investigation that, hopefully, ends in the favor of Circus World."

The article continued on to page four, but Melody didn't want to read on anymore.

She could barely remember Bancroft (or "Uncle Benny", as he used to be called), but Ballora had been her favorite Circus World member before she became too old for such things. Lithe and graceful, the ballerina twirled around Ballora Gallery with a train of tiny children doing their best to keep up. Ballora's children would usually try to help those lagging behind. Melody had been one of those children, practically worshipping the ground Ballora danced on. And now...

"Oh, that's horrible," Charles said sympathetically. "I wonder what happened to them..."

"Well, I hope that wherever they are, they're safe and sound," she said grimly, setting down the newspaper.

"Mm hmm," Midnight mumbled through a mouthful of toast.

"What the- Oh for goodness sake, were you even reading the article?" Melody shook her head. "Do you even care about what happened to them? Or are you too concerned about your stomach?"

The color drained from her face. Shakily, she set down her toast a leveled a look at her. "Of course I care, Mel. It's horrible that this happened," she said, a hint of a tremor in her voice. "But at the same time, I can't pretend that much. I mean, I don't remember much about them anyway."

Melody's heart sank, but she nodded. She suspected that she wouldn't.

"Ahem." Charles gazed at both of them with an unusually serious expression. "Actually, I didn't come up here just to check on Midnight."

"Really?"

"What do you mean, 'check on me'?" Midnight demanded.

She was ignored. "Yeah, Captain G wanted me to fetch you guys, he needs to talk," he said.

"What about?" she asked.

There was a hint of a smile on his face now. "I don't know the specifics, but I do know that it has something to do with that," he said, nodding at the papers.  
__________________________________________  
After a hearty breakfast of overly-buttered toast, Charles led the two girls to where Captain Grigory said to meet him. Along the way, Melody struck up a conversation with the sulking Midnight, speculating about their new task. At first she was resistant to her attempts, but eventually, she began throwing out her own ideas. They first started out serious, but the next suggestion became more ridiculous and outlandish than the last.

"What? No way!" Melody laughed. "He wouldn't ask us to replace them."

"Why not?" Midnight said, grinning. "You always said that you liked Ballora, you could paint yourself white and wear a tutu and... I don't know, prance around? And I can be the other guy."

The image of herself dressed up as Ballora wiped the grin off her face when she was reminded of the ballerina's situation. She turned away from Midnight, but she seemed to notice her abrupt change of mood anyway. "Hey, it'll be alright, Melly," Midnight said, nudging her with her elbow. Melody did her best not to wince. "Whoever this joker is, they'll catch home before you know it. So don't worry, okay?"

"Oh, um... O-okay?" Midnight even tried to give an awkward hug, which she accepted gingerly. She seemed to be in a generally better mood, most Pri lay because the subject of her nightmares was dropped.

"Girls, this is the place," Charles interrupted, stepping in front of an unmarked door. "Let me check of anyone else is inside." He slid inside the room, leaving the two sisters outside. A few seconds later, his head poked through the doorway. "You two can come in now."

He withdrew his head. After sharing a look, they entered the room.

The interior resembled a meeting room, what with the projector and cluster of chairs around a table. At the end of said table sat a stern-looking, middle-aged man, whose posture was as rigid as a pole. Or maybe a brick wall. He's got the personality of one, anyway.

At Captain Grigory's indication, they took seats on either side of him, Charles sitting next to Melody. He didn't speak immediately, looking from Midnight, who was jiggling her leg impatiently, to Melody, who was sitting up straight with rapt attention. "I am sure you are wondering why I have called you down here."

"Not really," Midnight answered offhandedly.

Grigory raised an eyebrow, and Melody hastened to answer. "What she meant to say was: we heard from Charles that you wanted to talk to us about the Circus World performers, but we don't know anything specific yet."

She resisted hugging out a sigh of relief when Grigory shifted his attention to her. "Since Charles already told you, then I will assume that you have already read the news. As you know, two performers have been reported missing, one after allegedly seen traveling to the basement of the Circus World building. At least, that's what the police had been asking the press to tell the public."

They exchanged another glance. "What do you mean by that?" she asked cautiously. "Are you saying that the police are withholding information?"

"Not exactly." Melody saw Midnight roll her eyes. "While they are not giving everybody the full version, what they are not telling them is information that is not worth sharing anyway. Plus, they have their own reasons to fear that this kidnapper will scurry off like a Rattata the moment he thinks that they are onto him."

"But if no one knows who this scumbag is, won't it give him a chance to kidnap even more people?" Midnight pointed out, kicking back and resting her feet on the table.

"That would normally be the case, if not for the fact that they are certain that this person is targeting only the Circus World performers," Grigory said. "And I'd appreciate it if you could sit properly, Willows."

"But how do they know that?" Midnight persisted, ignoring his last statement. "And what is this 'information' they're keeping secret?"

Captain Grigory seemed to be steeling himself. "Because this person may be a...demigod like you two. Or rather," he turned to Midnight, "like you."

His words hit them like a bombshell; both of their jaws dropped, and accusations began flying out like shrapnel after an explosion.

"Hell no! No way in hell!" Midnight screeched.

"Captain, th-that's not possible," Melody stammered. "They hadn't been a child of Mew's in centuries, except for Midnight, and our father-" She had to take a steadying breath here. "-is dead. I... I saw it with my own eyes."

Captain Grigory didn't look remotely moved by their words. "But what makes you so sure of that?" he asked. "How do you know that Midnight is the only one left? What if there are still a few left?"

Midnight bit her lip and glanced away.

"But Mr Grigory, what makes the police think that it's a demigod doing this anyway?" Melody asked in her best reasonable voice. "It's a bit of a stretch to just assume that out of the blue, don't you agree?"

His lips whitened. "Actually, there has been similar cases before."

She blinked. "Similar cases?" 

He nodded. "Yes, similar cases of people disappearing into thin air, only to wind up dead in a ditch somewhere. And each time, the police force were unable to locate the person, or people, responsible. They suspect the demigods because they were known to terrorize humans before, and with such destructive powers at their disposal, well... You can do the math."

"I-I-" Her head was reeling from the sudden info dump, but she managed to get out a coherent question. "H-how long ago did the most recent c-case take place?"

"Fifty years ago."

Fifty years! "Whoa whoa whoa! So if it was fifty years ago, then how can it be a demigod doing this now?" Midnight asked, sounding somewhat indignant.

He raised his eyebrow again. "Did I say that it was the same person? No. Anyway, there is nothing definite yet, only theories, so it may not be a demigod. That is why you were requested for by the police."

There was a beat of silence. Then Midnight spoke in a slow, measured voice, "What makes you think that we can do what the police can't?"

"I am not saying the police cannot solve the case, only that they need a little...assistance," he said. "And frankly, I do not feel too safe leaving Midnight without anything meaningful to do."

"What?"

"So do the police expect us to catch this guy?" Melody asked. "Or just to investigate him?"

"Most likely the latter. The person in charge of the investigation did not specify, but I have stated that I want you two in minimal danger. And while we are on the topic, do NOT even think of trying to engage him," he warned, giving Midnight a pointed look. "We do not know what he is capable of, so it is best to stick to caution. We cannot afford to lose you."

Everyone turned to stare at Midnight.

"What?" she asked defensively. "I didn't say I was going to do anything!"

"You rarely do," Grigory replied drily. "But nevertheless, I still have to warn you, before I get blamed for your stupidity."

Midnight let her chair fall back on all fours with a "thump", and Melody decided that this was a good time to intervene before Midnight got herself sedated and strapped to a bed again. "So when are we going to meet this police officer in charge?"

"No, I have arranged for you to meet Officer Woods later at 2 o'clock, at the Lumiose Police Station. Whether he wants you to start immediately or not depends on him, so I suggest you two take the time to prepare yourselves." He glanced at the two sisters, and something in his face seemed to change slightly. "... Whatever happens, I wish you luck for whatever obstacles you may face. That is all."

The abrupt dismissal took the sisters by surprise. Charles, who was used to his boss's was of speech, got the hint and stood up, gesturing for them to follow him.

They filed out of the meeting room in silence, mulling over the slew of information they had just received. Melody herself was nonplussed by the suddenness of which they had received their new mission, like it was unwanted trash dropped onto their laps, but what was more shocking was Captain Grigory easily subscribing to the theory of the kidnapper being a demigod, let alone one related to Midnight.

Speaking of which, Midnight seemed nervous when he had mentioned it, but why? She couldn't possibly know anything about that. If she had met any distant relatives, when they first rescued her, well... Not even she can keep a secret for this long.

"Wow, what a day for you guys, huh? And it's not even noon yet!" he chuckled.

"Uh huh. And you couldn't have told us about this a few days earlier?" Midnight grumbled.

Charles turned sheepish. "Ahaha, s-sorry about that, but we knew about this too late, so this was the earliest we could tell you guys."

"No, it wasn't your fault," Melody comforted. "We don't blame you."

"Speak for yourself."

She threw a warning glare at Midnight's direction. Where did this sour girl come from? She hadn't been this crabby ever since Charles suggested going to the Old Chateau when they were visiting Sinnoh. Was she this bent out of shape because of Captain Grigory's words? Surely she didn't think he was accusing HER, did she?

"Hey!" Melody suppressed a wince when Charles clapped his hand on her back. Why couldn't she have gentle friends? "Why don't I drive you girls out to Lumiose City for lunch? My treat!"

"Oh, um, are you sure about that? We're not mad at you about the mission, you know," she said.

He waved her concerns away. "It's not about that! I already promised you a good lunch to make up for breakfast, and besides, we're going to Lumiose City anyway, right?"

"I...suppose that's true," Melody admitted reluctantly.

"And since both of you might be put to work soon-" Midnight shot a cross look at Charles. "-and Midnight's been having nightmares-" The cross look was shifted to Melody. "-we should have a little something to cheer us up! What about Café Soleil?"

Melody perked up at the name. "Oooh, isn't that café famous for their mint tea? I always wanted to go there!" she gushed.

"All the more reason to go there for lunch! Are you alright with that, Midnight?" he asked.

Melody glance at Midnight apprehensively. Was her temper going to erupt now? The expression on her face didn't help to quell her anxiety.

But to her immense relief and surprise, Midnight simply shrugged and muttered, "Sure."

"Great!" Charles was either immune or oblivious to Midnight's rudeness. Melody didn't know which it was.

Thankfully, they reached their apartment door at that moment. "Then I'll pick you guys up at 11 later!" he called over his shoulder as he made his way back to the 

"Okay, see you later!" Once she was sure that he was well out of earshot, she decided that it was safe enough to confront Midnight about her behavior. "Midnight, I-"

She turned to find the door open and a flash of black hair disappear around the corner. "Midnight!"

She hurried inside, locking the door behind her, and rushed into their bedroom. She spotted Midnight seated at the far end of the bed, glaring at the wall opposite of her. Her heart sank.

"Hey, Midnight," Melody said carefully,sitting next to her. "You, in, feeling okay?"

"Yeah." Her voice was an octave higher, and she notice her nervously wringing her hands. "Come on, Charles is waiting."

"Midnight, we're not meeting him for another hour," she reminded, gently peeing open her trembling hands. Midnight's fingers immediately closed around hers like a flytrap. "Now can you tell me what's bothering you?"

Midnight made a non-committal grunt at the back of her throat, but didn't give a definitive answer.

"Midnight..." she tried saying beseechingly.

No response.

Alright, her "nice girl" approach wasn't working. "Midnight!" she repeated forcefully.

"Nothing's wrong!" Midnight burst out, a heavy scowl marring her face. She yanked back her hands and wrapped her arms around her body, staring at the ground. "I'm fine, okay?! Just leave me alone!"

Had Melody not witnessed similar tantrums before, she would have been left dumbfounded as to what to do. But she did know what to do.

Melody wrapped her arms around her sister and held her tight. Predictably, Midnight squawked in alarm and squirmed, but as minutes stretched out, she felt like a sack of potatoes against her, sighing contentedly.

She had to ask again. Melody felt really bad for ruining her good mood, but she couldn't let this go. "Mid, what were you so mad about?" she asked softly. "I promise, wherever you say will be a secret between us. Not even Charles will know. Are you mad at them, because of the mission? Are... Are you mad at me?"

Midnight instantly shot out from where she had nestled herself in Melody's hair. "No! Why would I be mad at you?" she asked incredulously.

Melody felt herself relaxing at her words. They may be sisters and all, but it does no one good to be the target of Midnight's ire. "I had to ask. Then what about Charles and Captain Grigory?" she pressed.

Midnight grimaced. "Well, yeah, I am mad at them, but..." Her voice trailed off uncertainly. 

"But what?"

"It's not about them," she blurted out. "It's about the...the nightmare."

"The nightmare? You mean the one that you've been having?" She pulled out from their prolonged hug to stare at Midnight. Could it be? Was Midnight actually going to consent to having her mind checked over? Suddenly, her previous attitude made sense. Her grumpiness obviously came from the fact that she had no choice but to acknowledge that Melody was right, but she didn't want to admit it. That reasoning was backed up even further by her earlier reaction, which she had thought was her being upset, but in reality, she was embarrassed.

Melody was prepared to comfort her sister, assure her that she didn't need to be shy about her feelings and could always be open to her about anything, when Midnight continued on. "Yes, and I'm not seeing a psychic, by the way."

Melody could practically hear her theories crumbling all around her. "O-oh. Then... Then what is it?"

"It's about something... no, someone I saw in my dream. Do you remember the kid who got bitten?"

Melody nodded.

"Well, he had a...brother."

"Oookay?" 

"And that brother, he... hehadtheMewmarkonhisneck." Midnight's eyes rose tentatively to search her face for a sign of approval.

Melody couldn't help herself; wholly inappropriate giggles were rising up her throat. She desperately tried to hold it in, but the expression on her face must have given her away, for Midnight's hopeful expression dropped flat. "You're laughing at me."

"No, I-" Too late. Melody doubled over in mid-sentence, choking and giggling as she held her sides. Midnight crosses her arms, waiting coolly for her to finish. 

Her laughter gradually petered out, and she straightened again while wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh, oh," she gasped. "S-sorry, it's just- Snrk!"

"Yeah, yeah. It's just Midnight talking crazy talk again," she snarked.

"No, I don't think you're crazy!" Melody said, her lips twitching upwards. "But don't you think that's a little farfetched? Some kid from your dreams turns out to be the lunatic we're supposed to track down? Come on!"

"I'm serious, think about it! How many children of Mew do you think exists today? Think of how many demigods still exist today. Now, think of how many shapeshifting demigods live today- Stop laughing!" 

Melody made a valiant effort to force down her giggles. "I-I'm sorry," she gasped.

"Do you think I should have told Grigory?" Midnight sighed.

"Oh, no. No no no, that's a bad idea," Melody said. "I mean, I already laughed at you, how do you think Captain Grigory will take it?"

"He'll probably have me carted off to the loony bin," she muttered, more to herself than Melody.

"That's... Uh, sure. Don't worry," Melody reassured, "this kind of things happen more than often with humans, so it's more likely that it's a normal nut job responsible."

"... Yeah. Yeah, you're right," Midnight said, and then, to her pleasant surprise, she initiated another hug.

As they held each other, Melody gazed at the Mark. Hidden under her shirt, but just peeking out a bit, was the Mark of Mew. Marks were meant to distinguish demigods from one another, in case if two had similar abilities but different parents. What if two people had the ability to control the water element, but their parents were Kyogre and Lugia respectively? Or if two people had different abilities, but the same parent? The Mark helped to identify demigods, and it did, at least back then.

But now, there were so few of them left, the Mark only served to separate them from the rest of the population, the normal humans. They were feared and shunned because of their powers, no matter what their intentions were. But not without good reason. 

Maybe this was a chance to prove themselves, she realized, a chance to prove that not all demigods are capable only of destruction. Then they could be granted more freedom to roam in public places, without the need of guards or permission. Midnight would definitely love that.

However, all she said was, "We have to go, Midnight. Charles is waiting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, finished! Sorry if the ending is lame, and sorry if this chapter is a little boring! But don't worry, the next chapter will have more action (or maybe not).
> 
> Please leave a comment to tell me how I can improve the story!


	2. Prologue

"Speech"  
'Thoughts'

Prologue

This was amazing.

This was thrilling.

This was freedom.

A boy no older than twelve raced through a forest of luscious, emerald-green trees and brilliantly colored fruits, jumping over roots and ducking under branches with as much grace as an autumn leaf in a gentle breeze, drifting, twirling and dancing weightlessly. His tanned skin was shining with sweat, his hair matted against his forehead.

The wild Pokémon scampered out of the way as bare feet came thundering down their path, leaving behind a destruction of broken twigs and crushed leaves in their wake. He wasn't usually this careless, especially since his people were on friendly terms with the wild Pokémon in the forest that his village was situated in, but he just couldn't contain his excitement any longer! Today was the day; the day of his thirteenth birthday!

Normally, a child's thirteenth birthday would signify the change from young child to teenager, the first stages of independence and puberty. However, it was different for the members of the Nightmare Clan. Reaching the age of thirteen meant that the birthday child could begin his first descent into the mystical realm of dreams and nightmares.

No one under the age of thirteen really knew what was in that realm, or how one would enter it. Parents forbade the graduates from telling them about the ritual, for it would ruin the surprise and mystic of it. Still, with the right connections, bribes and blackmail, the young ones get smudges and smears of the graduates' experiences. A void of only blackness, in which peoples' dreams flitted around in like Woobats. Flying and chittering in an unknown language, and if one listened and looked closely, they could make out vague impressions of a person's dream; an echo of what they were seeing. The job of a member of the Nightmare Clan was to guard the dream realm, alongside the Crescent Clan.

At least, that was what they were told. Of course, there was the fact that these graduates like to prank them to take into consideration. For all they knew, there might be nothing but an empty space. Dreams that flowed by like water around stones in a river, eventually ending up in a pool of people's dreams and nightmares. That was what he envisioned it to be.

But again, all speculation.

This was why he was so unbelievably excited for tonight! Once everybody has retired to bed, his parents would guide him through the dream realm, with them doing all of the actual patrolling while he was shown the ropes of the job. Every day leading up to this day, he would let his mind construct a mental castle filled with snippets of information and imaginations about the ritual, then deconstruct it to rebuilt it with new information he had obtained. Every nerve in his body had tremors of excitement running up and down whenever one of his friends mentioned it.

But before the big event could happen, he had an unpleasant task to accomplish first. He had to find his brother, Azame.

Azame wasn't really their brother, actually. He was an orphan that they had found digging through their trash, bearing the mark of Mew.

They immediately knew he was bad news the moment they saw that mark burned on his neck. Only people from the Chalfon Clan had marks like that, and they were supposedly wiped out many months ago.

The gruesome tale was retold for many days. The Chalfon Clan had housed a great number of Mew's children and descendants, and most, if not all, had the ability to change shape. The thought alone was enough to unnerve many clans, but they had never dared to drive them away, lest they invoked Mew's rage.

But there had been no need for that. Eventually, the Chalfon Clan started tearing itself up from the inside. No one really knew the cause of it, and the adults spared them the gory details, but he could tell from their faces that it had not been pretty. Nor was it quick, for it seemed like a new body turned up every day, but eventually, the entire Chalfon Clan was no more. Or so they had thought.

Nobody had been comfortable with it when the clan leaders announced their adoption of that Mew boy, nor were his parents happy when it turned out that they were the ones tasked with taking care of him. But arguing with the clan leaders was like a child arguing with their parents (AKA a very, very bad idea), so they grudgingly accepted him into their family. The extra supplies given to help them take care of the unexpected addition didn't hurt, though.

Over the next five years, mostly everybody had more or less grown accustomed to the brooding little boy skulking around the village, but he remained suspicious.

Of what exactly, he wasn't sure of. But there was something in those green eyes that struck him as odd, like a gear missing in a machine, or that look an Arbok had before it struck down on its prey. Plus, there was that massacre. If whatever had happened to the Chalfon Clan was like a disease, who was to say that it wouldn't happen to him too? And what if it spread to them?

Unfortunately, he couldn't share his thoughts without sounding insane, but at least his mother seemed to share his sentiment. Her mouth always twitched into a sneer whenever she laid her eyes on him, and her demeanor towards him was usually as cold as ice. Unsurprisingly, he had mutual feelings towards her.

But that didn't mean that he was excluded from his brother's birthday. A child's thirteenth birthday was a momentous occasion for their clan, and his absence would be most conspicuous. Which was why he was here, running through the forest searching for his brother's favorite hang out spot: the Nozama Lake.

'I should be getting closer...' he thought. 'Just need to find that Pecha tree.'

That was one of the reasons that his brother kept coming back here (most likely to sulk), as far as he knew. But that didn't matter to him. He just needs to find him.

Turning his head, a flash of sparkly blue caught his eye, followed by the refreshing scent of freshwater. He skidded to a halt. 'Aha!'

He took broad strides in that direction, taking satisfaction in the sudden rustling of grass. 'Little brat probably came here without Ma's permission again.'

There was no particular reason not to visit the lake, except that his Ma didn't like him disappearing for hours on end. Personally, he didn't care what his adopted brother did during his spare time, but it was kind of fun to boss him around.

Still... He guess it was alright to check up on him once in a while. It may be true that most had gotten used to him, but there were a few who had been against his inclusion, and they had voiced their displeasure whenever he had crossed their paths. So far, they hadn't done anything to him physically, but he figured it was only a matter of time.

He stepped around a tree, his eyes busy searching for the familiar mop of black hair. His singlet was practically soaked in his sweat, with the sun's rays beating down on his neck. His stomach was now growling ferociously, and his mind kept straying back to the promised ritual waiting for him.

In short, he wanted nothing more than to go home.

Soon, it was quite obvious that he was nowhere to be seen. Probably went to hide when he heard him approaching. "Hey, Azame!" he called out through cupped hands. "Come on, stop hiding already! Ma wants us back to help out!"

No response.

A soft growl of irritation escaped his lips. This wasn't the time to play hide-and-seek! He stalked forward, towards a suspicious-looking clump of bushes, and with one swing of his arm, the bush parted to reveal a scrawny boy with damp black hair, his hands clutching a-

The stench hit him there and then. His mind flew to the time when his group were playing in the forest, and they had stumbled across a rotting Pidgey corpse. The smell was horrendous, and the group had generally cried and wailed until someone came running to take it away. It had been five years, but the memory came back as strongly as the smell now.

He staggered back, his hand clasped over his gaping mouth. "What the hell, Azame?!" he screeched. "Where did you get that?!"

"I found him like this!" his adopted brother wailed, clutching the Deino corpse like a lifeline. "He was all covered in blood, a-and-!"

His mind stalled. Taking a closer look at it, he noticed that it was absolutely slathered in blood. It shouldn't be smelling like it was decomposing, so...

"A-and when I found him, I also found the others," Azame said lowly.

His mind had already came to the horrible conclusion, but the words came out before he could stop them. "What do you mean, 'others'?" he asked cautiously.

Azame pointed to the base of a tree, his gaze fixed on the ground. He crept towards the hole and peered into it.

His breakfast nearly came up.

Inside was a pile of corpses, all Deinos, which were in various stages of decomposition.

He couldn't take it anymore; rushing away, he threw up at a tree, reaching and gasping for breath. The next moment, he felt a small hand rub his back comfortingly. "You'll be okay," Azame whispered. "Everything will be over soon, okay?"

He shrugged off the hand. He didn't want him touching him like that. "Y-yeah," he gasped. "C-c'mon, we have to go back home. Before somebody sees us with...with that."

"What? But we can't leave him here!" he protested.

"We can, and we will!" he snarled, patience rapidly running low. He whirled around to stare him down. "I want to go home and clean up before the party, just put that back with the others!"

"No, I won't! And if you try to drag me back, I'll- I'll... I'll bring him back with us!" he said, glaring at him through the tears in his eyes.

Azame grimaced. His adopted brother may be tiny, but he could be extremely stubborn at times. At very inconvenient times, especially. He hadn't found a way around them yet, so he had no choice but to give in. "Fine, fine. Let's just make it quick!"

Thankfully, the brat seemed mollified by this. They searched for a burial spot, and settled for the base of a Pecha Tree (Azame insisted the poor Deino had to be at a good tree). He himself dug a decent-sized hole with his bare hands, and Azame carefully placed the body inside and covered it up with dirt. He could here sounds that sounded suspiciously like sniveling, and he huffed. 'They don't pay us enough to keep him,' he thought darkly.

"Come on, we have to go," he said aloud, standing and brushing his hand against his pants. Streaks of dirt stood out prominently against his white singlet and pants, despite his best attempts to clean up. "Aw man, Ma's gonna throw a fit..."

Turning around, he saw bloodshot eyes and tear tracks running down Azame's face. "Hey hey hey, no more crying. Or else Ma'll think that I beat you up or something..."

'Not that she'd mind,' he thought privately.

"O-okay," he hiccuped, messily wiping his face. "B-but what do you think happened to the poor D-Deino?"

He did his best to show as much indifference as possible. "Who knows? Maybe something tried to eat it, and if we don't get out of here quick, it'll come eat us up too!" He bared his teeth and faked a lunge at him. Azame squeaked in surprise, and he snorted. "Scaredy-Meowth."

Azame tried to hold his hand, but he jerked away in time. "Hey!" His hand hovered in the air for a moment, then fell to his side uselessly. "No time for that, let's go!"

Azame's hands were practically caked in dried blood and suspiciously lumpy bits, so he took him by the upper arm and started dragging him away.

Then came trouble.

Tremors ripped through the earth. His knees knocked against each other. Azame shrieked shrilly.

'Earthquake...!'

But he proved to be wrong a second later; the tremors receded. His relief was short-lived, however, when it was replaced with a strangely horrifying sound: snapping and growling. Too late he realized, and Azame's terrified yell finally got him to turn.

He nearly turned again to run.

A fully-grown Hydreigon stood before them, the two brainless heads roaring and snapping blindly. But it was the middle one, the one that was glaring at them both, that had his attention.

He had never seen something with so much...hatred in its eyes. Not even the opposing clans held that much malevolence for each other. This one had a look that wished the most painful death on them, but for whatever reason, he could not fathom.

"Big brother...?" he whimpered.

He cursed. The Deino that he had found must have been this Hydreigon's child. After all, not many Hydreigon's lived near their village. Looking at the beast's monstrous size, larger than any illustration he has ever seen, he could conclude rather easily that both of them couldn't hope to subdue it, nor outrun it. The blood on Azame's hands wouldn't help matters too.

As much as he detested his brother, he didn't want to see Azame torn apart. He had already seen enough of that in his old home. "Azame, get behind me!"

"Where are they?"

His eyes snapped to the beast, his frightened mind scrabbling to comprehend her words. Everything clicked together, and he frowned. "W-what do you mean? Who's 'they'?" He was amazed that his voice came out calmer than he was feeling.

"Where are they?!" the Hydreigon (A female, judging by her voice) roared in frustration. Azame wailed again. "Where are my CHILDREN?!"

"I'm scared!" he sobbed.

'How do you think I'm feeling?!' he wanted to scream at him; fear had his heart in its unforgiving grip, and uncontrollable tremors assaulted his clammy palms. His stomach was twisted into knots.

But he was the older one. He had to get his brother to safety.

"When I tell you to run, get out of here," he breathed to Azame. His eyes widened, but he quickly stood up straight again. "I know where your kids are," he said in a level voice.

Her eyes narrowed. "Where are they?!" she growled.

"I found them there," he said, pointing to where the corpses were.

He had half-expected her to call him a liar, to eat him up right there and then. But amazingly, miraculously, she rose into the air and shot off in the direction he had indicated.

They wasted precious seconds staring at the vacant space in amazement. He blinked, then realized their opportunity. "Azame, run!" He stared up at him uncertainly. "Run!! RUN!!"

He finally got the message. Azame shot off and bolted towards the village. He looked back to make sure that she wasn't going to give chase, then followed suit.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Azame panted.

He paid him no mind. His only goal was to reach the village, reach the adults, reach the safety. They'll help them, they'll know what to do, please please please let them reach-

"AAAAAHH!!!"

A dark blur shot out from the trees and collided with him. Legs pressed down on his body, hot breath blowing his hair like strong wind, they went tumbling a few feet before he became hopelessly trapped underneath the Hydreigon. His vision comprised only of scales, and little else registered in his head except for the words hissed into his ear.

"They're all dead."

He felt robbed of breath. 'This is stupid, we haven't even ran that far! Azame! Where's he?'

"I-I'm sorry! I don't know who killed them!" A horrible thought then struck him. "It wasn't us! I swear!"

"Liar!"

That was the last thing he heard before he felt razor sharp teeth sink into his arm. Pain shot through his flesh like hot knives. The scream that was glued to his throats ripped free, a deep, guttural sound echoing around the forest. His other hand feebly tried to bat away the head, but the other one grabbed it in its jaws. Agony sparked across his vision, and he struggled harder.

It was worse than anything he had ever experienced; the furious Hydreigon was pulling him closer and closer to his death, and nobody could help him-

Azame! His eyes flew open at the new sliver of hope. For one ridiculous moment, his mind was filled with the images of his brother heroically saving him from the beast, returning him safely to the village...

But of course, when he turned his head, Azame was nowhere to be found. His heart was filled with disappointment, anger, then hope. Hope that his brother was running back to the village to find help, that he was going to be okay...

Her teeth dug further into his flesh, and he found he couldn't feel his arms at all. They must have been bitten clean off, but then why can he still feel the horrible, burning pain...?

"THIS IS FOR MY CHILDREN, HUMAN!" she thundered, and her gaping maw lunged towards his forehead. Time seemed to slow down as he stared into the inky black void helplessly before him, paralyzed.

Somebody... Anybody... Help...

CRUNCH.

Pain seemed to explode in his head. His body froze, then fell limp like a rag doll. His eyes were frozen in terror and agony, his mouth open in a silent scream that would never come. The pain... No, it wasn't just pain... It was excruciating. It was agony. It was torture. The sounds of her teeth scraping against his skull bounced around hauntingly, and he could feel his hot blood run down his face and splatter against the grass in great quantities, the bright red prominent against the dull green. But it couldn't be possible that that much blood was pouring out of him... They seemed to be getting everywhere, staining his clothes and coating his hand...

He felt so cold...

Mum...

Azame...

Why...

With one final jerk, everything went black.  
__________________________________________  
A/N: If you liked it, please leave a comment on how I can improve the story from here on out. In the meantime, I'll leave this out for you. 

Chapter 1  
In which two sisters are charged with chasing down an elusive kidnapper.


	3. Chapter 2: The Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the sisters learn more about their new case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello, hello again, everybody! First off, I want to apologize for the late update. I know that I had promised a new update before my exams, but I couldn't complete it in time. And, to make matters worse, I accidentally uploaded and deleted the draft, I have to start from scratch. :(
> 
> Another thing is that my phone screen is kind of screwing me over, especially right now, so forgive me if this seems to have more misspellings than usual.

Chapter 2: The Switch  
[August 11, 2016]

"Here we are!" Charles announced jovially. "Lumiose City!"

Charles was driving the borrowed car (Thanks, Captain Grigory) down North Boulevard, taking great care to avoid the Gogoats trotting dangerously close to the road with tourists on their backs. Rows and rows of buildings lined the streets, some tall, some short, all new, all fascinating, all different. A sea of tourists and locals alike streamed in and out of malls like a river's currents, most of them toting brightly-colored bags, and they were avidly taking pictures of of famous sights, like the Lumiose Museum and the Galette Stand. The Prism Tower stood tall and proud in the heart of the city, white as freshly fallen snow. Its gleaming white color was accentuated at night, when it was lit up bright enough to illuminate the entire city by itself.

Melody thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Midnight thought it looked like a giant glow stick.

Speaking of Midnight, she hadn't heard anything from her in a while. She turned her head tucked between her knees. 'Uh-oh.'

"Hey, you're going to dirty the seats like that," she said, gently nudging Midnight's foot with her knuckles.

"What?" Midnight looked up, bewildered, as if she hadn't noticed her in the car. "Oh, I... Sorry."

She let her legs fall to the ground with a loud "thud" (something that would have surely earned a reprimand from Captain Grigory), but she still looked distracted.

Melody wondered what was keeping her so occupied. She couldn't possibly be worried about the mission. After all, this wasn't their first mission, far from it. From spying on criminal organizations to chasing down Pokémon poachers, she had seen Midnight jump into every one with unhealthy enthusiasm. Melody had often suspected it was due to her abilities giving her an ego as big as the Lumiose Tower.

"So this is what is going to happen," Charles said, interrupting Melody's train of thought. "I'll drop you guys off at the street up ahead to find Café Soleil. You should be able to find it if you go straight up and turn left at the end of the alley. Wait for me inside, okay?"

"Alright, Charles," she said. Midnight said nothing.

He pulled over at a relatively emptier part of the street and allowed the sisters to clamber out of the backseat. With a yell of "See you later!", he drove off.

"Come on, we have to go find that café," Melody said, turning to see Midnight looking around herself pensively. She tilted her head. This was a new reaction. "Um, Mid? Are you okay?"

Midnight pursed her lips, shaking her head. 

"Hm." Just to be safe, she had better keep an eye on her. Grabbing her hand, Melody began leading her down the street. 

[C]-0-  
Midnight hated cities.

Sure, they had a lot more interesting facilities than what the base had to offer, but they drew so many people to them like flies to a Gogoat's manure. She felt breathless, so many bodies closing in, squeezing, touching. Even in the safety of the car, Midnight felt an invisible hand squeezing her chest every time she glanced outside, so she had kept her head down for most of the trip.

Melody's touch brought her back to reality, which she was grateful for, of course. She was less grateful for the "shoes on the seat" thing, but at least it wasn't from Grigory. THAT would have been a whole other story...

Her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch when the car stopped. She would've stayed in the car until it was time for the meeting, but Melody was having none of it. After a few seconds of Melody tugging stubbornly at her sleeve, Midnight eventually gave up and went outside with her. The heat of the sun rained down angrily on her exposed neck the moment she stepped out of the car, and she squinted against the glare of the sun. There weren't as many people around as she had initially guessed, but still enough to make her uncomfortable.

"So what do you feel like having, Mid?" Melody asked after Charles drove off. "I heard the café serves really good tea, and their pasta options aren't too bad either."

"Mmm." Food was the last thing on her mind right now, but she supposed that she did have to eat something before they meet the police chief. "Maybe some spaghetti."

They turned around a corner, bypassing a pair of thugs leering at them. "Maybe I should try the pie. I hear that they serve Magikarp stew pie that is chock full of ingredients that when you eat it, it's like fireworks of flavors in your mouth! Oh, and the tea they serve is brewed with a Serperior's tail leaves, imported straight from Unova! Actually, I think a lot of their products are from Unova, I heard..."

Midnight remained quiet, content with letting her sister be the sole carrier of this conversation. She knew that Melody was being this animated for her sake, but she just couldn't bring herself to forget about her dream.

She had agreed with Melody's take on the situation, that it wasn't a descendant of Mew responsible for the crime, but as part of her stubbornly refused to accept it. Logically, it was next to impossible for the boot in her dreams to be the serial kidnapper running amok in Lumiose City. She could already imagine her sister's voice saying so.

'Midnight, we don't even know when that dream took place. For all you know, it could've been when demigods were first created, or it may be even in the future and that's your son! No, don't make that face at me. Anyway, if you really were dreaming about the kidnapper, it would make more sense if you had dreamt about the kidnapping and not someone getting eaten by a Hydreigon. And that's assuming if it even happened!'

She held back a sigh. Even after all that, there was something eating away at the edge of Melody's explanation, but for the life of her, she just couldn't make sense of it, and it was driving her fucking nuts.

"This is it, Mid!"

Midnight blinked. Wow. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed that they had arrived at the café, and she took the time to appreciate why it was one of the more popular rest spots. The café gave the impression of a delicate lily in a field of thorns. Fake vines were entwined intricately around the baby blue menu, with pastel-colored flowers sparsely adorning them, their fragrance wafting through the air. Potted plants, with names that Midnight couldn't be bothered to think about right now, lined the window sills.

The atmosphere seemed to drain away all worries she had a moment ago, and she grinned lazily at Melody, who was humming happily next to her. The atmosphere seemed to be affecting the patrons as well, laughing and interacting with one another and seeming a whole lot cheerier than the cranky tourists outside. "So what do you think, Mid?"

"It looks... pretty." Midnight ignored the delighted look sent her way.

"I get what you're saying, it's so quaint." Melody sighed. "I can't wait to see what they have to offer. Come on, let's go in!"

Midnight immediately dug her heels into the ground against Melody's attempts to pull her into the café. "Hey hey hey! What are you doing? We have to wait for Charles!" she said, panic creeping into her words.

"We can wait for him inside, he knows the way." Unaware of Midnight's concerns, or maybe just ignoring them, Melody gave a harder tug, dislodging her from the ground and yanking her inside.

The sweet tinkling of a bell over their heads announced their entry, drawing a few stares to them. Their gazes felt like hot pokers on her skin, making it itch irritably. The walls and chairs and tables all had intricate designs and were all polished to perfection, making her feel extremely grubby in her simple sweaty attire. She kept her gaze down as Melody guided them to a table tucked away in a dark, lonely corner, thankfully away from prying eyes.

A menu was shoved into her hands. "Here you go! I think you should take a look at their tea selection, you look like you could use a cup now."

Warmth blossomed in her chest, but she squashed it down irritably. "I feel fine, it was just a little hot outside," Midnight insisted.

"Hmm... Well, then you could at least take a look at what they have now." Melody already had her head buried in her own menu,, eyes flicking left and right rapidly. "They also have Pecha Oran Tea, Combee Honey Tea-"

"Oh, I'll have that one!" Charles dropped into a seat next to Melody, jabbing a finger at the menu. "And I'll have that baked rice as well."

"Charles! How was the parking today, was it really crowded?" Melody asked.

Midnight smirked slightly. Since Lumiose City was famous for more than one reason and attracted tourists by the hundreds, it would be expected for one to have a little (read: plenty of) difficulty finding a spot, let alone a good one. That wasn't as funny to Midnight as imagining Charles stuck in the middle of the road looking for a parking lot.

"Pretty packed, but not as bad as it could be. In fact, I think it was easier finding a spot today." At that moment, Charles stopped talking when he caught sight of Midnight. He leaned over the table to peer at Midnight's face, causing her to draw back slightly. "... Is it just me, or do you look paler than usual?"

"What the- Jeez!" First her sister, and now Charles! "I'm fine, it's not like I'm going to drop dead."

"We know, we know," he said placatingly, patting her arm. Midnight resisted shrugging off your touch. "But you can't blame us for being worried, can you? 'Sides, you need to stay well for the meeting later on."

The meeting. It had completely slipped from her mind, but the fresh reminder sent her stomach into another squirming frenzy. She was scared, she knew that much, but scared for who? Herself, or for Melody?

"Midnight? Hellooo, earth to Midnight..."

She blinked stupidly. "Huh?"

"Did you not hear me?" Melody sighed. "I asked, what do you want to eat?"

"O-oh." Her eyes roamed over he page she was currently on with haste, and her eyes landed on the first thing that caught her attention. "Um, Tamato pasta with additional pasta for me."

"So same as usual, then." Just then, a Lillipup came bounding up to them with an order sheet fluttering in its mouth, a tiny bow tie tied around its neck. After cooing over the little waiter for a while, Melody wrote down their order on the sheet and let the Lillipup scamper back to the counter. "Charles, how much time do we have left?"

"About a little more than an hour," he informed after a quick glance at his wristwatch. "Don't worry, we have plenty of time before the meeting."

"Yes, about that meeting." Melody propped her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her open palm as she gazed at the blonde male. "How much do you know about it? I don't want to look like an idiot over there, so any information would be fine."

Charles looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... Well, I know that they want to have you go undercover to find the kidnapper, but beyond that, I'm not really sure," he said in an undertone. "But you don't have to worry about fighting the kidnapper; Captain G already gave them orders not to let anything happen to you."

Another smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Orders? I wasn't aware that he could order the police around," Midnight said. Melody giggled, no doubt seeing a mental image of Grigory bossing around officers like they were new recruits.

Charles laughed too. "I guess you could say that it's more like "terms" for borrowing you. But even if he didn't say anything, I don't think they would do it, since you're, you know..."

He gestured at them.

"Heh, yeah. I guess that with all he missions we need to do, people forget that we're only sixteen. Heck, we sometimes forget that we're sixteen," Midnight remarked. "But then again, we're not exactly normal sixteen-year-olds."

"Shh...Midnight, keep it down," Melody hissed, glancing at the couple sitting nearest to them.

"Yeah, yeah." Midnight didn't see the big deal about it. The people nearest to them were too far away to hear them, and they wouldn't understand the context of their words anyway. Still, she chose to oblige and lowered her voice. "So how does the police know about our...thing?" 

"Oh..." Charles suddenly looked apprehensive, and he fiddled with his hands. "Well, the thing is... They have the reports on the experiments that Team... at Team Rocket's base," he said. 

Midnight's eyes widened. That was where they had heard about her? Midnight didn't like the implications of his words, nor the looks Melody and Charles were shooting her, like they expected her to lose it and become a frothing lunatic.

No, she couldn't freak out. She won't overreact over this trivial matter, if she was to prove to Grigory that she was mentally stable enough to be around other people.

"Okay, so they know about me, but what about Melly?" she asked levelly. "How do they know about her?"

"Oh, that's easy." Midnight could see his shoulder sag slightly in relief. "Melody's a recorded demigod, so they would know about her."

Oh. She forgot about that..

Just then, their food arrived. Midnight took the time to sip her tea, and the combination of fresh minty and a light touch of sugar made her taste buds sing with joy. Smiling slightly, she took a deeper gulp.

"It tastes good, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it does," Midnight said,, averting her gaze from Melody, whom she was sure was grinning. "It's very minty, at least."

"This place has a lot of variety for such an out-of-the-way café," Charles missed between mouthfuls of rice. "It's a pity that I didn't bring you here earlier."

Not to mention that the food was excellent as well. Midnight wolfed down her pasta dish with the enthusiasm of a Munchlax, while Charles and Melody ate at a pace that was far less likely to choke them. A companionable silence fell upon them, occasionally broken by the gentle clinking of utensils against plates and Melody scolding Midnight for her lack of table manners.

This was much more preferable to the meeting later, and she wished that this could last forever, but it was as if someone had pressed a fast-forward button: soon, they were scraping the bottom of the plates for the remains of their meals, while Midnight popped the mint leaf and began sucking on it.

"Well, I suppose that we have to go now," Charles said after draining the last dregs of his honey tea. "It's nearly time."

"Great! Come on, let's go," Midnight exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and pulling Melody out of hers as well. She knew that going out meant sticking herself back into the thick of the crowd, but she had no choice, really.

After Charles had paid for their meals, the trio weaves through the thick throng of tourists outside in search of the Lumiose Police Station, Midnight clinging onto Melody while glancing at every passing person suspiciously. She couldn't help it, they were looking at her funny! 

Meanwhile, Charles was prattling on about the various facilities they were passing by. "That's Coiffure Clips. Trainers take their Pokémon their to get a haircut. Or is it a furcut? Maybe you could try it out one day, Midnight-"

Midnight threw him a dirty look.

"-er... Oh! That's the Pokémon Center over there!" Charles yelped out, hurrying out of Midnight's reach. "Which means that the police station should be nearby... Ah, there it is!"

He led both of them to a simple blue-and-white building, which had the words "Lumiose Police Station" emblazoned boldly above the door. There wasn't much activity being the glass window, only a bored-looking clerk slumped behind the front desk.

Charles opened the door, letting the sisters enter first. The rush of cold air was a relief to Midnight, after having wandered under the blazing sun after who-knows-how-long, and she shook her sweaty hair out of her face as Melody stepped around her to survey their surroundings.

Charles was talking to the clerk. "Hello, my name is Charles Smith. Officer Woods should be expecting us, so if you could tell him that we're here..."

"Of course. If you could hold on for a minute." As he dialed the phone, Charles turned to flash them a reassuring smile.

"You girls doing okay?" he asked lowly.

"Of course. I mean, we're only talking to Mr Woods today," Melody said. "We can handle whatever they throw at us."

Midnight grimaced. How could she talk about this so casually, when her powers weren't even on the offensive side? Well, she was shaking in her sneakers. Or maybe that was because the temperature of the air-conditioner was ridiculously low, but anyway, she knew that this mission would be more dangerous than the others, solely based on the fact that it could be another demigod responsible for this. She, the person Grigory told not to get herself killers on a daily basis, was aware of that! Did Melly know something that she didn't?

At that moment, the clerk looked up from the phone just as another officer came up to them. A man with hazelnut hair and ash grey eyes gave them a toothy grin, waving at them genially like they were long-time friends. "This is Mark Culson. He'll show you to Officer Woods," the clerk said dully.

"Aw, lighten up, man! You sound like you're halfway to your grave already," Mark said teasingly, before beckoning for them to follow him.

"I feel like it too," the clerk said somberly as they passed him.

Midnight instantly felt leery around this man - he seemed way too young to be a policeman, and too peppy as well - but Charles and Melly were already following him, so she had no choice but to follow suit. They trailed after him silently, until he stopped them in front of an unmarked door. "Okay, my boss is in there, but he wants to meet only them." He nodded at Midnight and Melody. "So you have to wait out here until we're done."

"Wait, what?" Midnight squawked in alarm. Melody gave her a quizzical look, but she could hardly care about that now. "Why not?"

Mark shrugged. "Not sure myself, but I think he wants to see who's he working with without their babysitter around," he said.

"Wha- Babysitter?!" Melody echoed in an affronted tone. Midnight herself bristled at the insult.

"Or maybe he just heard about you and doesn't want you around," he continued, now smirking widely. "I know I don't."

Charles' mouth fell open, but Mark quickly pushed them through the door and shut it in his face. Midnight didn't even bother with words; she whirled around and gave a swift kick to his shins.

"Ow! Hey! What was that for?" he questioned angrily. "What did I do?"

"You were being an ass to him!" she growled. "And this is for Melly!"

She raised her foot again, but a voice made her freeze. "That will be enough out of you," a male voice, not unlike Grigory's, ordered.

The room they were in seemed like some sort of interrogation room, and a grizzly-looking man was seated at the far end of the table situated in the middle of it. Midnight was sorely tempted to ignore him and continue her attack on the jerk, but a sharp jab in the ribs got her to lower her foot. No use giving the guy they'll be working with a bad impression. Mark had an infuriatingly smug look on his face, which was wiped off by the guy's next words. "And as for you,, Culson, I sure you have better things to do than to pick on two teenage girls," he said drily. "Go and deal with the stack of reports I left on your desk, then bring the case file here when you're done."

Mark had nothing to say. He stalked out of the room, with Midnight shooting filthy looks his way. Once the door closed behind him, the man she assumed to be Officer Woods returned his attention to them. "So you are the demigods that Daniel told me about, hm? One child of Mew, one child of Celebi, am I right?"

They nodded.

Officer Woods seemed slightly disappointed. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you aren't exactly what I was expecting. I expected two grown adults, or at least people of age, not two-"

"Scrawny teenagers?" Melody finished, grinning. Midnight didn't know why, she was feeling pretty insulted herself. Were all coops this douchey? "We get that a lot."

"No, we don't," she muttered. Melody smacked her arm a second later.

"First off, I hope that there will be no more assaulting officers," he said, looking pointedly at Midnight.

"No... sir," she said grudgingly.

"I'm glad you understand. You must be wondering why I require your assistance when I have manny officers under my command, am I wrong?"

"No, sir," Melody said.

"Simply put, it's because Daniel has told me that you are experienced in this field, and he has no reason to lie," he said. "And I do not have the luxury to be picky now, so you will have to do."

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, haven't I?" he continued. "My name is Andrew Woods, but you may call me Officer Woods."

"I'm Melody Willows," she introduced. "And this is my sister, Midnight."

"Oh, so you're Midnight."

"Um... Yeah?" Midnight didn't like the change of tone.

He nodded, as if everything suddenly made sense. "Daniel had warned me about you, the 'reckless one'," he said. "You aren't going to give me a hard time during this investigation, are you?"

""What?! No!" Midnight protested. 

Officer Woods raised an eyebrow. "I hope so, for the sake of those performers, because you're going to play a major role in this investigation, and the last thing I need is some cocky brat screwing it all up. Now, can you tell me what you know about this case?"

Midnight was too busy fuming to answer, leaving Melody to answer for the both of them. "We read from the newspaper that two performers went missing, and Mr Grigory said that you suspect it's a demigod who's doing this, right?"

"That's right," he confirmed. "We think that because of similar incidents that have taken place in the past. Demigods going missing, and ending up dead in a ditch somewhere else. During those cases, no matter how much evidence we gather, no matter how many people we interrogate, we never manage to confirm who the kidnapper was. And then, out of the blue, we have people tripping over themselves to confess their involvement. Only the densest of people cannot see that this isn't suspicious."

Melody was nodding along thoughtfully, then paused. "Wait, did you say demigods?" she asked, aghast. "As in, groups of demigods are dying off, and you can't find who's behind this?" 

And then, "Wait a minute! Are you saying that the Circus World performers are demigods?" 

"Yes, registered ones," he said. "They just keep their Marks hidden from the public eye."

"How's that possible?" Midnight cut in skeptically. "All demigods are practically built to fight! Well, most of them, at least. Anyway, how can a human kill a demigod, and without you guys knowing?"

To say. That the idea of psychopathic humans slaughtering scores of demigods was absurd was quite an understatement. Demigods, even those related to lesser legendary Pokémon, were considered sentient milling machines by the rest of society, capable of feats that humans could only dream of. And this cop was suggesting that those very demigods were being killed by humans?

"Wait..." Melody's eyes then lit up with realization. "Oh, so that's why you think a demigod is doing this! Because only another demigod could possibly overpower another demigod!" However, just as quickly as her excitement had come, confusion clouded her features. "But... Then why did those people say that they were the ones responsible? They're human, right?"

"As human as I am," Officer Woods said. "All of them gave us details only the killer could possibly know, however, so they were convicted. Do either of you have any idea what kind of demigod could be responsible?"

Both of them lowered their head in thought. "Hmm...Oh, don't you have a list of registered demigods somewhere here?" Midnight asked. "Why don't you just go through that list? I'm sure that there aren't that many demigods in the first place."

"We tried that." he said wearily. "But all the registered ones have alibis that place them far from the crime scene, so that rules them out. That means that only the unregistered ones could be responsible."

"Oh. Then, maybe a child of a Psychic legendary Pokémon?" Melody suggested. "They could have planted fake memories in them to make them think that they were the ones who did it."

"Maybe, maybe," he said thoughtfully. "But we can't have a solid idea until we have you two sniffing around for incriminating evidence to pin down the killer.."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have the ability to change your appearance-" He pointed at Midnight, who puffed her chest out proudly, "-and you can rewind time." He shifted his finger to Melody.

"Oh, um, it's not exactly rewinding time," she corrected, rubbing the back of her head. "I can only jump back in time.""

Officer Woods frowned. "Is there a difference?"

"Oh, it's just that I can't rewind time to a specific time," she elaborated. "I can only jump back to certain times using items associated with that time. Nobody will remember that I did it."

Except for one.

"I see." He sighed. "Well,, it make things more problematic, but I can still make this work. Now, we discuss your part in this plan."

"I don't want either of you engaging the killer, just have you digging around for anything incriminating. And in order to do that, I'll need to have Midnight go in disguised as one of the performers, to act as bait and protect the other performers at the same time."

"Me? Act as bait?" Midnight snorted. "So you think that us fighting the killer is dangerous, but me being a sitting duck isn't?"

"It will be dangerous, but considerably lesser so," he said calmly. "Which is why I will have your sister posing as your assistant, to help rewind time in case if you are discovered. A new assistant is due to work over there soon, so the killer will not have his suspicion aroused."

Midnight took a deep breath. She was to be the bait, a slab of meat for the murderous dog to chase after. She supposed that she was to be afraid at this point, but the thought of that filthy scum laying his hands on Melody made her more scared than anything.

"But what about the other performers? They'll be in danger too!" Melody protested.

Officer Woods seemed to slump forward at this. "Unfortunately, there is nothin we can do about that. If we bring all of the performers into protective custody, the killer will know that we are on his trail, and it will be extremely difficult to rescue the two missing performers. But I'm sure that you will do your best to look out for them."

Midnight hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.

"Good. Now, onto other matters..." The next hour was dedicated to other matters, such as their method of relaying information to him and Midnight's new living arrangements with the other performers. In the middle of it, Mark finally returned and passed the file to his superior, glaring at the sisters along the way.

"Looks like he isn't too fond of us, huh?" Midnight sniggered. Melody simply rolled her eyes at her.

"And one last thing," Officer Woods said, after going over the other details. "The person I want you to replace is Penny, the...pink one."

"Huh? Why her?"

"Because she is the only one not confined to her section. It is a habit of hers to help her fellow performers in their own sections, so you wouldn't raise suspicions if they see you going around."

"Oh, um... Alright then." She accepted his reasoning unhappily. She knew who Penny was, or "Playmate Penny" as she was more commonly known among the kids, and she did not want to spend hours on end being pulled around by little brats. But judging from his tone, it was unlikely that any amount of arguing would sway him.

Officer Woods nodded with a satisfied expression. "If you don't have any questions, then you Amy leave now. Tomorrow we will start the investigation." He passed a folder to Midnight. "This is everything you need to know about Penny. Make sure to memorize everything in here, then pass it back to me in one piece."

He made a gesture of dismissal. Midnight was the first to leave the room. She hated to admit it,, but Mark constantly glaring at them from behind Officer Wood's back was too unnerving for her to handle today. Hopefully she'll get to kick him between the legs the next time they meet.

Charles was leaning against the wall outside, arms crossed and eyes half-closed. He didn't seem aware that they were outside. One look at the situation, and an idea to improve her mood popped into her mind. An evil grin stretched across her face.

Melody realized too late. "Wait, don-"

Midnight lurched forward, grabbing his arms and shoving her face in his. "BAH!"

His eyes shot open, and he let out a shrill scream while flapping his arms about hysterically. Midnight drew back to avoid his flailing arms, guffawing.

"Midnight!" Melody said reproachfully. "This isn't the time for playing around!"

"Oh! Oh, I nearly got a heart attack," Charles groaned, running is chest.

"Come on, you'll say that no matter when I do it," Midnight said flippantly.

Melody shook her head. "We're leaving now," she said firmly, taking her by the hand. All three of them exited the building, passing the sleeping clerk along the way, a burst of sunlight the first thing to greet them.

"So were supposed to go back straight away, right Charles?" Melody asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, I'd love to bring you around, but Captain G made it  
VERY clear to me that I was supposed to bring you back immediately. But," he continued, "we did finish earlier than expected, so if you want to buy something, you better make it quick."

"Oh! Oh! I know what I want to get! Wait here!" Before Midnight could even open her mouth, Melody was hurrying off. She turned to give Charles a bewildered look. "Do you have any idea what she's getting?"

Charles shook his head. "If you don't know, then I sure as heck don't."

Not like they had to wait too long to find out. Five minutes later, they spotted Melody rushing back to them, something clasped in her hand. "Midnight, I have something to give you! Close your eyes!" she demanded. 

"Something to give me? Is there something going on today?" Midnight asked, closing her eyes. 

She felt her right arm pulled forward and something thin pulled across her wrist. "It's actually supposed to be your birthday present, but I thought that you could use the extra good luck for the mission," she explained. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

She complied, and a bracelet caught her eye. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the string was actually made up of braided blue threads, with a single crystal blue was hung in the middle. "Ooh, it's really pretty," she said sincerely. 

Melody's face lit up. "Thanks! I was afraid that you wouldn't like it. I ran out beads before making this, actually, so I had to..."

'Hmm... Since Melly's so nice to give me a present, shouldn't I return the favor?'

Grinning mischievously, she suddenly bent over and grabbed Melody, hoisting her onto her shoulder. "And this is my present to you, Mell!" she hollered, taking off down the street like a bullet. The indignant voice of Melody yelling at her floated down the street while Charles chased after them, shouting that they were going the wrong way. None of them had noticed Mark watching them from the window.

"So those are the demigods we'll be working with?" he muttered, shaking his head. "Unbelievable..."

"... But at least thing's will be interesting now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Phew, this took me too long to get out, but at least it's out! I hope you guys enjoy it, despite its lack of action!
> 
> Chapter 3: Operation Circus (Part 1)  
> In which the Willow sisters begin the investigation.


End file.
